Super Bowl 50 Countdown — 21 Days To Go: Which Team’s Fans Do We Want To See In The Bay Area Next Month?

After Sunday’s playoff games, the potential Super Bowl 50 entries are now down to four. More importantly, the potential fan bases are also down to four. So with the matchups for AFC and NFC title games set, we need to think about which of those fan bases we want to see in the Bay Area in less than three weeks.

Coming to a street in your neighborhood in February?

These will be the human beings who will be roaming our highways and byways and streets and restaurants and bars. Each of the fan bases has distinct cultures and attitudes. I was personally pulling for Green Bay and Pittsburgh to reach SB50 because from my observations over the years, they have the largest followings with the most fun-loving attitudes. But both are now eliminated.

Not to worry. Supporters of the remaining teams will fill the void just fine, I’m sure. And just for the hell of it, I thought I would rank those fan tribes in terms of the ones that would be most likely to show up in large numbers and be the biggest spenders and basically the most fun to have around for a weekend.

Here goes:

1. BRONCOS FANS.

They come from all over the Rocky Mountain region and gather in large tribes. I would expect that even many who don’t have tickets to the game would show up just to be part of the festivities. They are not afraid to show their colors in creative ways. I was on a flight with Broncos fans, male and female, all wearing orange boas two years ago on my way to covering Super Bowl XLVIII in New Jersey. Denver fans were very sad after that game was over (Seahawks 48, Broncos 3) but had a blast in Manhattan before then. I would advise taverns to order extra Coors beer.

2. CARDINALS FANS.

Underrated in many ways because their team has little national following. But fans in Arizona have been loyal and got totally jacked up when the Cardinals made the Super Bowl for their one and only time in February of 2009 at Super Bowl XLIII, where Arizona lost to the Steelers, 27-23. But that game was in Tampa, which meant that Cardinal followers who just wanted to drop in and have fun found it difficult to do so. That won’t be a problem for them at a Bay Area Super Bowl. There are plenty of cheap flights from Phoenix and the most adventurous fans might even drive. It also helps that the Cardinals will likely be favored to win this time, no matter the opponent.

3. PANTHERS FANS.

Southern football fans bring a different flavor to every game they attend, whether that’s in the college or pro game. Charlotte, home of the Panthers, is kind of a generic corporate city. But the Panthers’ fans love to have a good time. They tend to be a little more dressed-up and as you saw in Sunday’s victory over Seattle, even bring kids to the games. Because the Panthers have never won a Super Bowl and have big expectations after posting the NFL’s best record this season, I would anticipate many excited Carolinians (is that what you call them) to make their way here. The problem is, getting the flights from the east coast won’t be easy, even if some are added. So it’s unlikely Panther fans would turn up in as big a number as Cardinals fans. However, Warriors’ star Steph Curry is an avowed Panther booster and is playing a game in Oakland the night before the Super Bowl. Something tells me he’d find a way to get to the game the next day at Levi’s Stadium if his team is here.

4. PATRIOTS FANS.

It’s a long way from New England to the Bay Area and Patriots fans are likely (and have every right to be) jaded about what would be their seventh Super Bowl trip in the last 15 years. I wonder if many of the 12,000 or so Patriots fans who are able to buy tickets from the team would decide to just stay home and sell those seats at a big profit. Also, New England fans seem to come in two categories: The upper-crust Boston crowd (who aren’t much fun) and the blue-collar fans who were consuming large quantities of alcohol at a tailgate party and urinated on my tires the last time I parked my rental car at Gilette Stadium (who can be amusing but also can be obnoxious). On the other hand, I imagine the Pats would have large Bay Area support based on the hometown status of Tom Brady (San Mateo and Serra High School). I just think the three other potential fan bases would throng to the Bay if their teams were here. Hence, the No. 4 ranking that will ultimately result in the Patriots rolling into Santa Clara in three weeks.

* * *

No stunner that Saturday night’s wacky and entertaining Packers-Cardinals game drew such a big television rating. I’m more intrigued by where most of those viewers were located.

And that’s significant for this reason: The NFL remains curious about just how enthused the Bay Area will be about the Super Bowl coming to the region. The league relies on local fans to show up and support many of the events such as Super Bowl City and NFL Experience, particularly early in Super Bowl week before fans of the competing teams start showing up on Thursday and Friday.

The NBC publicity department was crowing on Sunday about Arizona’s 26-20 overtime victory posting an 18.3 rating to make it the highest-rated Saturday primetime Divisional game ever, with 33.7 million viewers. In the game’s final minutes, even though they occurred between 11:15 p.m. and 11:45 p.m. Saturday in the Eastern Time Zone, the viewership peaked at 38.7 million and a 21.8 rating.

But the locations of those viewers is a little surprising. Here was the info from NBC about that:

Top 10 Metered Markets for Packers-Cardinals.
(The first number is the local rating, the second is the percentage of TV sets in the market tuned to the game.)

Notice that the Bay Area is nowhere in sight. You’d expect Milwaukee and Phoenix to be at the top of the list, although the fact that 71 percent of the TV sets in Milwaukee being tuned to the game really is staggering. Minneapolis and Seattle also make sense. Same with Las Vegas, given the gambling component. But Norfolk? Buffalo?

I’ve always thought the Bay Area was a big NFL television viewing market, even with the local teams not involved. This opinion is now under review.

* * *

I’ve had a few people ask about the hours that Super Bowl City in San Francisco will be open to the public. Here’s the info for the fan festival at Justin Herman Plaza:

On Saturday, January 30, Super Bowl City operating hours will be from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

On game day, the hours will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Kickoff in Santa Clara is at 3:30 p.m)

In other words, there won’t be any late-night hours at the Super Bowl City site. Fans will have to take their partying elsewhere, which I’m sure San Francisco bars will be happy to accommodate The best way to reach Super Bowl City will be disembarking BART at the Embarcadero stop. That won’t be convenient for South Bay fans, though they could take CalTrain and make their way up the Embarcadero on foot or public transit.